Key Benefits:
President of the Republic,
On the report of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs,
Seen them articles 52 to 55 of the Constitution;
Vu la Act No. 2004-1113 of 20 October 2004 authorizing the approval of the mutual administrative assistance agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Argentine Republic for the prevention, research and punishment of customs offences;
Vu le Decree No. 53-192 of 14 March 1953 amended on the ratification and publication of international commitments undertaken by France;
Vu le Decree No. 91-271 of 8 March 1991 which publishes the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (as an annex), adopted at Vienna on 19 December 1988 and signed by France on 13 February 1989,
Decrete:
The Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Argentine Republic for the Prevention, Research and Punishment of Customs Offences, signed in Paris on 31 January 2001, will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
The Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs are responsible for the execution of this decree, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
C O N V E N T I O N
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ARGENTINA REPUBLIC FOR THE PREVENTION, RESEARCH AND SANCTION OF FUTURE INFRACTIONS
The Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Argentine Republic, referred to as the “Parties”,
Considering that infringements of customs legislation affect the economy and social, fiscal and cultural interests of their respective States, as well as public safety and health;
Considering that illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances constitutes a harm to public health and society;
Considering that it is essential to ensure the correct assessment of the goods in order to ensure the accurate collection of customs duties and taxes for export and import and to allow the proper application of control, restriction and prohibition measures;
Convinced that the fight against violations of customs legislation and that efforts to ensure the proper collection of customs duties and export and import taxes will be made more effective by close cooperation between their customs administrations;
Considering the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 20 December 1988 and its annex;
Having regard to the Recommendation of the Customs Cooperation Council (now World Customs Organization) on mutual administrative assistance of 5 December 1953,
agree that:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Convention, the following means:
1. Customs Administrations:
for the French Republic, the General Directorate of Customs and Indirect Rights,
– for the Argentine Republic, the federal public revenue administration, the general customs branch.
2. "Custom Legislation": all of the legislative and regulatory provisions that the respective customs administrations are responsible for implementing with respect to:
- the import or export of goods and other transactions, regimes, customs offences, as well as those relating to prohibition, restriction and control measures,
- the financial transactions between the territory of one of the two Parties and the foreigner relating to funds from a customs offence.
3. “Custom infringement”: any violation or attempt to infringe customs legislation.
4. "Person": any natural or legal person.
5. " Narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances " : products and substances defined as such by the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 20 December 1988 and any other substance controlled by the legislation in force of the Parties.
6. " Substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances": substances listed in the Annex to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 20 December 1988 and any other substances controlled by the legislation in force of the Parties.
7. "Territory":
for the French Republic, the customs territory defined in theArticle 1 of Customs Code,
- for the Argentine Republic, the territory defined in Article 1 of the Customs Code (Law No. 22-415).
8. "Guided delivery": the operation in which the customs administrations of the two Parties, in accordance with their national law, allow illegal or suspicious shipments of narcotics, psychotropic substances or substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances to come out of their territory, cross or enter into it, with a view to identifying persons involved in the commission of illegal acts related to import, export or
Article 2
1. Customs administrations of both Parties agree to lend themselves to each other and directly assistance under the conditions laid down in this Convention with a view to preventing, investigating and punishing customs offences.
2. The assistance provided in the preceding paragraph does not cover the collection of customs duties, taxes, taxes, fines and other amounts on behalf of the other Party.
3. Upon request from a customs administration, the customs administration of the requested Party shall notify the persons concerned residing in its territory of any communication, decision, disposition or other document belonging to the requesting Party, concerning the application of the customs legislation of the requesting Party.
4. The assistance provided on the basis of this Convention shall be in accordance with the customs legislation of the requested Party and within the limits of the competence and resources of the customs administration of that Party.
Article 3
1. Customs administrations of the two Parties shall communicate spontaneously and without delay all available information concerning:
(a) The transactions carried out or to be carried out which present or appear to be irregular in respect of their customs laws;
(b) New methods or methods of commissioning customs offences;
(c) Classes of goods known as illicit traffic;
(d) Persons who may be expected to commit or may commit violations of the customs laws of the other Party;
(e) Ships, aircraft and other means of transport suspected of being used to commit customs offences;
(f) The new techniques to combat customs offences that would have proved their effectiveness;
(g) Updated lists of assets suspected of illicit traffic between their respective territories.
2. Upon written request, and as soon as possible, the administrations of the two Parties shall send:
(a) Excerpts from customs documents relating to transactions that are or may be subject to customs offences, which may be sent in the form of duly certified or authenticated copies;
(b) Any information that may be used to detect infringements of the customs legislation of the requesting Party.
In the event that the required Customs administration does not have the requested information, it shall take all possible steps, in accordance with its domestic law, to meet the request made by the requesting Customs administration.
Requests must include:
the name and function of the requesting authority,
- the nature of the current procedure,
the subject matter and grounds of the application,
― names and addresses (identities in cases of natural persons) of the persons involved,
a summary of the case and the legal elements of the case.
Article 4
Upon request of the customs administration of one Party, the customs administration of the other Party shall, in accordance with its administrative practice, exercise special control over:
1. Displacement, and in particular the entry and exit of the territory of the requesting Party, of persons suspected or known to undertake activities contrary to customs laws;
2. Suspicious movements of goods reported by the requesting Party as being illicitly trafficked from or to its territory;
3. Places where unusual quantities of goods are stored by the requesting Party have reason to believe that they are intended to be illegally imported into its territory;
4. Vehicles, boats, aircraft or other means of transportation for which the requesting Party has reason to believe that they may be used to commit customs offences in its territory;
5. Trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances or substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
The results of this control are transmitted to the requesting authority.
Article 5
1. In order to facilitate the search and punishment of customs offences in the territory of the two States, each Customs administration shall, in accordance with the provisions of its domestic law, within the limits of its jurisdiction and the request of the other administration, conduct investigations, interrogation of suspected persons and examination of witnesses. It then communicates the results to the requesting Customs administration.
2. The customs administration of the requested Party may authorize, in accordance with the provisions of its domestic law, the presence of agents of the requesting Customs administration during the course of the investigations. Such investigations shall be conducted in accordance with the law applicable by the requested Party and under the exclusive direction of officials of the customs administration of that Party.
Article 6
1. Customs administrations may, after agreement of the competent judicial or administrative authority, and within the framework of their powers, use the methods of controlled delivery of goods in order to identify persons involved in customs offences. Where a decision concerning a controlled delivery is not within the jurisdiction of the Customs Administration, the Customs Administration shall undertake the necessary steps with the competent national authority to determine the customs offences relating to these goods and to identify the persons involved in the commission of these offences.
2. Decisions on controlled deliveries should be adopted on a case-by-case basis.
3. Goods subject to illicit traffic that have been agreed to monitor delivery may, with the agreement of the two Customs administrations, be intercepted and authorized to continue their delivery either in the state or after a party has been subtracted or replaced in whole or in part. Article 7
1. The information obtained pursuant to this Convention may only be used for the purposes provided by this Convention, except for the express written authorization previously issued by the Customs Administration which provided it.
2. The information, communications and documents available to the customs administration of a Party under this Convention shall be provided with the same privacy protection as that granted by the national law of that Party to the same national information.
Article 8
1. Customs administrations of the two Parties may, as evidence, disclose their reports and testimonies, as well as in court proceedings, information and documents obtained under the conditions laid down in this Convention.
2. The extent of the probative force attributed to this information and documents is determined in accordance with the provisions of the national law of the requesting Party.
Article 9
1. Upon request from a court or authority of one of the Parties seized of an investigation of customs offences, the customs administration of the other Party may authorize its agents to appear as witnesses or experts before the said court or authority.
2. The application must specify precisely in which case and in what capacity the agent will be questioned.
3. Agents shall file, within the limits set by the authorization of their administration, the findings made by themselves as part of their duties.
Article 10
1. Customs administrations of both Parties shall take the necessary steps to ensure that agents of their services responsible for preventing, investigating or punishing customs offences are personally and directly in relation to the exchange of information.
2. Customs administrations of the Parties shall notify each other of the list of agents designated for that purpose.
Article 11
1. Customs administrations of the Parties shall not be required to provide the assistance provided for in this Convention in the event that this Convention is in a manner that affects the public order or other essential interests of their State or involves the violation of an industrial, commercial or professional secret.
2. Where the Customs administration of the Party making a request for assistance is not in a position to satisfy a request of the same nature submitted by the customs administration of the other Party, it is required to report the fact in the presentation of its application. In such cases, the required administration has full discretion to determine the action it intends to give to the application.
3. Any refusal of assistance must be in writing.
Article 12
1. Customs authorities of the Parties shall waive any request for reimbursement of costs arising from the implementation of this Convention, with the exception of expenses incurred in relation to experts and witnesses referred to in Article 9.
2. If, in order to meet the request for assistance, substantial and extraordinary expenses are required, the Parties shall consult to determine the terms and conditions under which these expenses are covered.
Article 13
The scope of this Convention extends to the territory of the two Parties as defined in Article 1.
Article 14
1. The modalities for the application of this Convention shall be determined jointly by the Customs administrations of the two Parties.
2. A joint commission shall be established, consisting of representatives of the customs administrations of the two Parties and to consider matters related to the application of this Convention. The Joint Commission shall meet, as appropriate, alternately in the territory of each Party.
3. Disputes in the joint commission and remained unresolved are resolved through diplomatic channels.
Article 15
Each of the two Parties shall notify the other, through diplomatic channels, of the fulfilment of the internal procedures required for the entry into force of this Convention, to be held on the first day of the second month following the day on which the last notification was received. This Convention has an unlimited duration and may be denounced by each of the Contracting Parties by notification sent by diplomatic means. The denunciation takes effect six months after the date of that notification.
Done in Paris on 31 January 2001, in two original copies, in French and Spanish, both texts being equally authentic.
For the Government
of the French Republic:
Hubert Védrine,
Minister
Foreign Affairs
For the Government
of the Argentine Republic:
Adalberto Rodriguez Giavarini,
Minister
External Relations,
International Trade
and worship
Done in Paris, August 26, 2009.
Nicolas Sarkozy
By the President of the Republic:
The Prime Minister,
François Fillon
Minister for Foreign Affairs
and European,
Bernard Kouchner
